The Annihilation of Foreverland

Jones was too tired to walk or this was ultra-security. The only way up was in the elevator.
    Five floors in the Chimney. The third one was where I woke up. The second one is the doctor’s office. The fifth one is the Director’s penthouse. What’s on the fourth?
    The second floor was silent. Four hallways radiated from the center like spokes. They went down one of them and stopped outside an office door with a row of chairs against the wall.
    “Would you have a seat, Danny Boy?” Mr. Jones asked. “I’d like to speak with the doctor.”
    Danny grunted through the handkerchief. Mr. Jones helped him into one of the chairs and went inside the office. Danny couldn’t hear them talking. He flicked his tongue over his bottom lip, felt the hole carved out of it when Sid’s fist crushed his face against his teeth. Mr. Jones assured him that would never happen again. If Sid he got within fifty feet, an alarm would sound on his tracker. If he got closer than twenty, he’d get knocked out.
    Danny wouldn’t mind testing the system. Maybe sneak up on him while he was in the bathroom, watch him crumple up on the toilet. He’d be in trouble – major, big time – but it would be so worth it. So, so worth it.
    He laid his head against the wall and closed his eyes. He was sinking in the chair, exhaustion weighing him down. He was breathing heavily when the elevator doors broke open. Two sets of footsteps came down the hallway. One was dragging a foot.
    “Hello, Danny Boy,” Mr. Smith said. “How’s your mouth feeling?”
    Danny shrugged. He could answer, but the bloody rag was a good excuse not to speak without being rude.
    “Listen, son. You’ll be all right. We’ve got a real sharp doctor on the island that will have you back to normal in a snap.” Mr. Smith snapped his fingers to illustrate his point. “No one hurts for long around here.”
    Mr. Smith turned to Reed, mumbled something about sitting. “Let me go inside and talk with Mr. Jones and the doctor, all right?”
    He winked at Danny, smiled, and went inside.
    Reed hunched over, hiding his hands in his lap. The silence was enormous.

    “You didn’t have to do that back there.”
    Reed didn’t respond. Danny took that as a sign to shut up. He said thanks. Move on. Danny pushed his tongue into the hole in his lip. The bleeding had stopped but he kept the handkerchief to his mouth.
    “He’s a psychopath, you know that,” Reed mumbled.
    “Yeah, he told me.”
    Reed sat back, holding his hands beneath his shirt. “Next time you’ll get more than a bloody lip.”
    “There won’t be a next time. Sid gets a warning if he’s within fifty feet of me. Twenty feet and the tracker knocks his ass out. I might sneak up on him just to watch him twitch.”
    “You’re playing with fire.”
    “We all are, Reed. May as well have some fun.”
    Zin would’ve liked that line; he’d tell him when he woke up.
    “Why are you here?” Danny asked.
    Reed hesitated. He unveiled his hands. The thumbs were purple and doubled in size. They stuck out like useless pegs. “To put Humpty Dumpty back together.”
    “So they can push you back off?”
    “That seems to be the pattern.”
    Reed put his hands beneath his shirt, again. His breathing was a little shaky. It hurt just moving them. Danny couldn’t imagine what it took to tackle Sid.
    “Why don’t you go inside the needle?” Danny asked.
    Reed chuckled, smiled at the floor.
    “What’s so funny?” Danny asked. “It doesn’t make sense, going through all this suffering when you know we’re going to end up in Foreverland anyway. Come on, Reed, give yourself a break. You’ve suffered enough, you’ve proved your point. You can take a beating.”
    Reed was quiet. He drew a long breath and let it out, thoughtfully. Then threw his head back with laughter. It echoed up and down the hallway.
    Danny watched him unravel. “You’re losing it, Reed.”
    “What’s so funny?” Reed said, wiping his eyes. “This is exactly what they want.”
    “Who?”
    “Them.” Reed gestured with a nod at the doctor’s office. “They want us to be friends so that you’ll talk me into taking the needle. And you’re biting, Danny Boy. You’re biting hard on the bait, son.”
    “I’m not biting on anything, I’m just making sense.”
    “You don’t know what you’re making.”
    “I saw her, Reed.” The fits of laughter trailed off, quickly. “Want to know what she said?”
    Reed hunched over, quietly.
    “She